| Mechanism of maintaining genome stability by generating histones during DNA replication (Professor Hojin Yoo, Chosun University) © News1 |
A Korean research team has discovered an intracellular defense system that suppresses DNA mutations through genome stabilization.
According to the National Research Foundation of Korea on the 27th, a research team led by Professor Yoo Ho-jin of Chosun University’s Department of Medicine has identified a new pathway to maintain genome stabilization by repairing DNA damage.
When DNA, which contains the genetic information necessary for living things, is damaged during the replication process by external harmful factors or genomic instability, it causes cancer, promotion of cancer malignancy, and resistance to anticancer drugs.
For this reason, the process of normalizing damaged DNA is essential for suppressing various diseases including cancer.
However, the specific process that accurately recognizes and repairs DNA damage during genome stabilization is not yet known.
Therefore, the research team newly identified the mechanism of how the 53BP1 protein, which recognizes DNA damage, and the RAD51 protein, which repairs DNA damage, work to maintain genome stabilization.
In other words, they found that 53BP1 promotes the synthesis of histones (proteins bound to eukaryotic DNA) when DNA is replicated, so that the replicated DNA is normally packaged and genome stabilization is maintained.
In particular, it was confirmed that when DNA is cut by harmful factors, SUMO occurs in RAD51, and the cleaved site is quickly restored to maintain genome stabilization.
The research team plans to develop drugs that inhibit the onset and progression of cancer using the newly discovered genome stabilization pathway and activity regulator.
Meanwhile, the results of this research were published in two papers on the 17th and 21st in the international academic journal ‘Nucleic Acid Research’.
km5030@news1.kr
